Earthware Blog

We were delighted that this month we featured in the Bing Maps newsletter for a blog article we wrote regarding relative performance of mapping APIs (see below).

If you want to read our full blog article please click here.

Cool

Over the past four years here at Earthware we have encountered a number of performance challenges when creating mapping applications on the web. We thought it might be helpful to bring together the 5 most common issues we’ve encountered, both when helping other developers or in some of our older mapping projects.

It’s unfair to call these mistakes, rather they are missed opportunities to make your mapping really fly. They are not exclusively focused on specific mapping API’s or web programming languages / frameworks so they should be applicable to the majority of web mapping applications with a little translation.

So in no particular order:

1. How accurate do you really need to be?

We often come across systems or code samples that both store, but more importantly transfer their position data (usually pairs of lat/lon) to very high levels of decimal places (often 13 or more decimal places). Did you know that 8 decimal places of accuracy is a real world value of 1.11 millimetre (at worst when on the equator). How many systems have you worked on that require you to map to 1.11 millimetre accuracy?

So assuming that for most of us meter accuracy is plenty enough we can reduce our values to only use 5 decimal places (1.11 metre accuracy). When transferring either points, or more importantly polygon data reducing your data from 13 to 5 decimal places is likely to decrease the amount of data you are transferring by at least half.

Typical speed improvement: 50%!

2. Load small, load often

Many mapping applications allow the user to drill into the detail of the data shown on the map. In the majority of cases the user does not require the full details of every single piece of data so why bother loading them all?

Typically in the mapping applications we encounter the initial view a user is presented with has a number of pushpins / polygons maybe with a text label and or an icon representing the ‘type’ of data shown (like a hotel, house, pipe etc). So the data we need to initially load for each point is a title, latitude, longitude, type and unique id. We don’t need to load all the description, photos, links or other data that will not be shown until the user clicks the icon/polygon.

At Earthware, the way we normally handle this is to have two services, one that returns the initial map data that matches our query, and one that returns the full details for a single selected entity. You can code your map so that it makes a call to the “full details” service when a user clicks a map entity and in our experience returning the data for a single entity is usually so quick the user doesn’t even notice the slight pause.

To see an example of this service architecture using asp.net and Bing Maps see http://bingmaps.codeplex.com/wikipage?title=Getting%20Started%20in%20Web%20Services&referringTitle=Home

Typical initial map load improvement: > 500%

3. Don’t repeat yourself

Often when helping developers improve their JavaScript map performance we come across an approach to loading the map data that we don’t recommend except in the most simplistic applications. That approach is to generate the JavaScript code on the web server that is used to create entities on the map and to pass this chunk of JavaScript back to the client and execute it there. For example, we see a service return the following JavaScript:

var pin = new Microsoft.Maps.Pushpin(52.011,-0.221, {text: '1'});
map.entities.push(pin);
pin = new Microsoft.Maps.Pushpin(53.011,-0.121, {text: '2'});
map.entities.push(pin);
pin = new Microsoft.Maps.Pushpin(51.011,-0.251, {text: '3'});
map.entities.push(pin);
pin = new Microsoft.Maps.Pushpin(50.011,-0.321, {text: '4'});
map.entities.push(pin);
pin = new Microsoft.Maps.Pushpin(54.011,-0.143, {text: '5'});
map.entities.push(pin);
pin = new Microsoft.Maps.Pushpin(55.011,-0.0123, {text: '6'});
map.entities.push(pin);

This approach seems to be popular with developers because it’s quick and simple to achieve. However, the downside is that you are constantly repeating the same long text phrases and transferring all these repeats to your user, thus slowing down their mapping experience to make it easier for you to code. This data could be sent in a simple data structure, like JSON, and with some simple code looped through and added to the map. The same data above in JSON would look like:

{points:{point:[{title:1,lat:52.021,lon:-0.211},
  {title:2,lat:53.011,lon:-0.121},
  {title:3,lat:51.011,lon:-0.251},
  {title:4,lat:50.011,lon:-0.321},
  {title:5,lat:54.011,lon:-0.143},
  {title:6,lat:55.011,lon:-0.0123}

]}}

To see an example of this data transfer architecture using Asp.net, JSON and Bing Maps see http://bingmaps.codeplex.com/wikipage?title=Getting%20Started%20in%20Web%20Services&referringTitle=Home

Typical map data load improvement: > 100%

4. Some data you just can’t load fast enough

As we have recently blogged the latest Bing Maps AJAX API is now even faster at showing pushpins on a map, but there is still a limit especially when you are working with older browsers. If your data consists of thousands of entities then it won’t take long before you either cannot transfer the data fast enough or the performance of your map is too slow.

So what can you do? Your users still need to be able to search all the data so you cannot just remove some. The most common solution to this problem is ‘clustering’ of map entities. This is where you group together nearby or overlapping entities and only show individual entities once the user has zoomed in. This can be achieved either using client side code (see http://rbrundritt.wordpress.com/2011/03/02/client-side-clustering-in-v7/) or on the server side before you transfer the data to the client (see http://www.viawindowslive.com/Articles/VirtualEarth/ClusteringVirtualEarthwithMSAJAXandC.aspx). The advantage of doing this on the server side is that you do not have to transfer the data for each individual entity but instead can just transfer the data required to show the ‘clustered’ entity.

There are other approaches to this problem including generating rasterised image tiles of your data and only showing interactive map elements once the user has zoomed in. This works just as well for pushpins as it does polygons. A good example of this ‘hybrid’ approach is the open source ajax map data connector project on codeplex: http://ajaxmapdataconnector.codeplex.com/

5. Transferring data as plain text is soooo slooowwwww

We have already discussed ways of optimising the data you send your clients (in 3.) above but that approach still ends up transmitting plain text data to your clients. There are much better binary formats you could transfer the data in that would massively reduce the size of your transfers.

The first and easiest of these is to use a compression format called Gzip that is seamlessly built into all modern web browsers and plugins (Flash and Silverlight). If on your web service you compress all your map data using Gzip your clients browser will be able to atomically decompress the data ready for you code to use without you having to change you client side code at all. Gzip compression is usually very simple to enable on your web service (see these links for apache, iis6 and iis7).

This approach doesn’t just apply to data transfer or mapping and (if you are not already) you should look at compressing other ‘static’ files like your JavaScript and css.

If you are using Silverlight to load data from WCF services then an even better solution is to use the built in binary http protocol.

There is usually a slight CPU cost to compressing the data but on a modern processor this is minimal and well worth the decrease in data transfer sizes.

Typical map data load improvement: > 50%

In Summary

Hopefully some or all of these issues might help you make a real, measurable difference to your applications performance and many of them are quick and simple to achieve. We would love to hear your real world performance improvements if you do use any of these tips so please feel free to share them in the comments section below.

Yesterday, we were delighted to be invited to present at a workshop event held at Microsoft’s Victoria offices in London to an audience of approximately 60 people who were interested in exploring how Bing Maps can help them drive their business results.

The audience was a good mix of technical and non technical people representing many industries and specialisms with many of them looking at how to manage a migration from the Multimap APIs and MapPoint Web Services to services and APIs offered by Bing Maps.

We really hoped that the day would both demonstrate some of the “art of the possible” in mapping but also allow plenty of time for individual companies to ask specific questions and explore the challenges specific to their own situation.

The speakers included:

Steve Frost (Microsott) – Chair

Idit Gazit-Berger (Microsoft) – Introducing Bing Maps

Johannes Kebeck (Microsoft) – Integrating Bing Maps

Rod Plummer (Shoothill) – Getting the best out of Bing Maps

Neil Osmond & Brian Norman (Earthware) & Miranda Munn (NovaLoca)

- The Art of the Possible in Bing Maps

Mark Finch (Grey Matter) – Licensing

Philip Bull (Microsoft) – Bing Maps and Windows Azure

Alex Montgomery and Hayley Bass (Microsoft) – Bing Maps and Microsoft Dynamics CRM

In our session we were delighted to be joined by Miranda Munn, Founder and MD of NovaLoca (one of our most successful clients) who demonstrated how we had helped her use mapping to drive her business at multiple stages of its growth.  We were also delighted to be able to demo the new NovaLoca Windows Phone 7 app that we have developed that is due for release very soon.

In case you would be interested, we wanted to share the slides and the links (most images are links) on our blog.  Please see below for the slides:

It seems that we are not the only people who think that TheWorldCupMap, Earthware’s tour of the World Cup stadiums, is pretty cool. The guys at BBC sport also agree and have added it to their dedicated World Cup page alongside their own venue guide and Fifa’s offering too. It’s great to have our work recognised in this way and to see this amazing new technology being used so well.

TheWorldCupMap shows what the ‘art of the possible’ of online mapping is. It is the world’s first release of Aerial Video Integrated Mapping (Avimap) technology which combines the Bing Maps Silverlight mapping API, the latest Internet Information Services (IIS) smooth streaming technology and Windows Azure cloud hosting to give a movie-like experience of a location. 

If you would like more information about how you could use the latest web mapping technology to display your business information in a compelling way please contact Earthware on 0845 642 9880 or email info@earthware.co.uk. 

Here at Earthware we are all very excited about the World Cup. However, it’s not the goals (or lack of!) that has got us energised, it’s our latest web based mapping solution, Avimap, which provides an interactive aerial tour of all the stadiums hosting World Cup football matches. Even if you can’t make it to South Africa in person with this online mapping application you can now visualise where all the action is happening as you fly over the stadiums at the same time as viewing the surrounding area in the map and understanding where the stadiums are located in relation to each other. Take a look for yourself by visiting http://www.theworldcupmap.com.

Avimap combines the very latest in online mapping technology, Bing Maps Silverlight, with high definition aerial video footage, from Skyworks, to create an application using cloud hosting from Mircosoft Azure allowing the user to explore any location in a smooth movie-like way.

To our knowledge this is the first time anyone has combined digital maps and aerial videos and used cloud hosting to produce an experience like this and it’s not just mapping football stadiums that this technology can be used for. The scope for any business, but especially those in the travel sector, is endless. Imagine embedding travel mapping into your website clearly displaying everything anyone could want to know about a destination at the touch of a mouse button.

If you would like to find out more about how digital maps can differentiate your brand, drive customers to your website and convert leads please contact Earthware on 0845 642 9880 or email info@earthware.co.uk.

It’s something of a milestone week for Microsoft’s Bing Maps with the launch of its Map App SDK (Software Development Kit) at Microsoft’s TechEd convention in New Orleans.

Developers can now download the Bing Map App SDK and start building, testing and submitting applications which if approved by the Bing Maps team, could feature in the Bing Maps App Gallery.

Earthware has already developed three map apps on behalf of Microsoft: the Bing Maps World Tour, Foursquare Everywhere and Oodle property apps. These provide great examples of what Bing is calling “truly compelling map experiences”.

Speaking about the launch of the Bing Maps App SDK, Brian Norman, Earthware’s Technical Director, said: “The public availability of the SDK opens the door to some groundbreaking new Apps which will really show the potential for businesses in providing rich visual web experiences by harnessing the power of mapping. Here at Earthware, we’re working on some exciting new Apps for the Bing Maps Gallery to complement the ones we’ve developed so far, including Foursquare and Oodle. Watch this space!”

To access the Bing Map App SDK, login to Microsoft Connect at http://connect.microsoft.com/bingmapapps (you’ll need a Live ID).

Please feel free to contact us if you are looking to explore how Bing Maps or any other interactive web based mapping, can help your business.

This week has seen a further development in global web based mapping technology with Google’s announcement that it has augmented Google Earth into Google Maps, creating a 3D rendering of certain locations when used with a supported browser.

This update to Google Maps, called Earth View, enables users to view 3D images of a number of the world’s most iconic places. In the UK, these include the Houses of Parliament in London, Stonehenge and even the Lake District.

Go to Google Maps and click the ‘New!’ link in the top right-hand corner and then enable “Aerial Imagery” and click on “save changes”. Then select one of the listed examples, sit back and enjoy!

Commenting on the Google’s Lat Long blog, Google Product Manager, Peter Birch, wrote:

"Earth View offers a true three-dimensional perspective, which lets you experience mountains in full detail, 3D buildings and first-person dives beneath the ocean. The motion is fluid, and you can see the world from any viewpoint".

Coming five years after Google Earth was launched, Earth View is available through the installation of a browser plug-in it originally issued in 2008, enabling dramatic detailing using the Google Earth fly-through interface.

The Grand Canyon, as viewed with Earth View in Google Maps.

San Francisco is one area where 3D perspective of an urban view is available in real detail.

(Credit: screenshots by Stephen Shankland/CNET)

Microsoft is currently working on its own 3D view of the world by enhancing its Bird’s Eye perspective in Bing Maps using the Silverlight plug-in.

Brian, Earthware’s Technical Director believes, “It is great to see these premium beta features make it into the consumer site offering some real competition to Bing’s 3D maps”.

Please feel free to contact Earthware if you are looking to explore how Google Maps, or any other web based interactive mapping, can help your business.

For the past thirty years or more, the travel industry has relied upon the trusty printed brochure to wet our appetites for holidays at home and abroad. We’ve become accustomed to the idea of thumbing through acres of paper and booking our escape to the sun based on fuzzy photographs and ‘artist’s impressions’. I wonder exactly how many holidaymakers have uttered those immortal words, “it didn’t look like that in the brochure?” during this time.

However, thanks to the massive advances made in web based mapping technology, this is all set to change. Applications such as Bing Maps World Tour, which uses Microsoft’s Silverlight technology and the Bing Maps mapping API, and the European Environment Agency’s Eye on the Earth website, which is built on the Windows Azure platform and Google Earth mapping are great examples of how the technology has revolutionised the way web users experience online mapping imagery. These mapping technologies have also paved the way for the travel sector to re-think how it can use the internet to present consumers with complete travel information in one place, e.g. embedded into an online travel map, to make finding and booking a holiday an enjoyable, easy experience.

Let’s take this one step further. Imagine popping into your local travel agent, or even sitting at home, and being able to interact with the screen to research and book your next holiday. The kind of technology that would enable you to do this was featured in the 2002 Hollywood movie, Minority Report. However, it’s no longer in the realm of science fiction thanks to the introduction of Microsoft Surface. Blend this technology with 3D street level mapping which is now available with Microsoft’s Streetside and Google’s Streetview and we’ve opened the door to a whole new perspective of what we can expect in the not too distant future.

95% of the UK road network has now been plotted in Google Streetview, an incredible logistical exercise on its own. You may even have seen one of the hundreds of specially rigged ‘Google Cars’ driving around capturing the imagery over the last 18 months but don’t worry, all faces and vehicle registrations have been disguised to comply with privacy laws!

This imagery means tourists and those holidaying at home can get an incredible amount of destination information, as well as being able to plan an itinerary based on the surrounding area and distances to attractions, for example, through just one application. Granted, you will only get an aerial or bird’s eye (if the mapping platform used is Microsoft’s Bing Maps) view of your holiday cottage if it’s down a private farm track (at the moment) but how about ‘walking’ around the nearest village or town? No problem.

For those of you who’d like to find out more about Bing Maps in particular, you can visit and join the Bing Maps User Group which was co-founded by Earthware’s Technical Director, Brian Norman. At one recent session, the group heard from Jim Lynn from BBC Vision, who presented “Adventures in Mapping” to give more of a taste of what we could see in the future.

Earthware’s development team is at the forefront of groundbreaking online mapping technology and new applications and is working in a number of industry sectors keen to embrace the power of interactive mapping technology to bring their business propositions to life through the internet.

Not only that, in these environmentally conscious times, it’s comforting to know this technology could help the travel industry take a huge step forward in reducing the thousands of tons of paper it uses each year.

To find out more about using Silverlight or Windows Azure technologies or the Bing Maps or Google Maps online mapping to communicate your business, please contact us.

Bing Maps have just released their latest offering to web based digital mapping and it’s pretty impressive.

New features include tagged photos from Flickr which overlay the exact location on the Bing Maps Streetside imagery, putting a static image in context of it’s local surroundings enabling the user the to compare a location at different times of day as well as historically.

The transition of the imagery as you zoom in from space to the street side is seamless moving through road view, aerial view and then Bird’s Eye view before ‘landing’ you on the ground so you can walk  around the street. But it doesn’t stop there: Bing Maps are now starting to map the inside of buildings.

And, if you get bored of navigating around Earth (well just America so far), then look up to the sky and navigate your way through the planets and stars.

Seeing as Bing Maps is an interactive mapping experience, watch the man (well one of the men) behind these new features, Blaise Aguera y Arcas, and see for yourself what they can do. Our question is, will you be joining the (over)excited applauding by the end?

If you are interested in finding out more about online mapping and how you can use it please contact Earthware on 0845 642 9880 or email info@earthware.co.uk

We often get asked by our clients, and prospective clients, what areas of the UK are covered by Bird’s Eye imagery. Whilst we have a long list of place names this isn’t always helpful as what you really want is to see is the UK Bird’s Eye coverage plotted on a map.

Well we found one the other day that Microsoft have done and here it is (areas shaded yellow have Bird’s Eye):

The two other questions that we often get asked are “Will our area have Bird’s Eye View imagery soon?” or “Will new imagery be released in our area?”. As the imagery is provided by BLOM pictometry (I was lucky enough to have a tour of the hanger and see the planes and the cameras they use – very cool!) and where and when routes are flown depends on a number of often uncontrollable factors, I am not even sure that Microsoft know the answer to this. However, if you want to keep up to date then please see the monthly releases in the Bing Maps World Tour, a bespoke mapping solution which Earthware created for Microsoft, which clearly displays the details of all Microsoft’s monthly imagery releases (aerial imagery and Birds Eye views).